Psalm 23

You know it, right? Psalm 23.

"The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul."

I hear a lot of references to that Valley of Death. That's what this life is, right? One valley after another, with a little bit of green pasture in between. At least it feels that way sometimes.

Want to know my favorite part? It isn't the table with the over-flowing cup that's prepared for me in my enemy's presence. It's the goodness and mercy part. "Surely they will follow me all the days of my life." But today I had a revelation. Did you know that some translations of Psalm 23 say that goodness and mercy will not only follow but pursue me? That's a big deal. Because it's one thing to follow someone. It's an entirely different thing to pursue. The Message translation says, "beauty and love chase after me every day of my life." Goodness and mercy will surely chase me all the way through the Valley.

That's how The Shepherd goes with you into the Valley of the Shadow. Not just plodding along beside you, biding his time until you come out on the other side. That's how you can fear no evil. The Shepherd pursues his sheep with goodness. Look over your shoulder. He's there. Chasing you down with mercy. Beauty. Love.

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New Do-It-Yourselfer

This is a wonderful development. Maybe she can figure out how to get the dishwasher to drain properly.

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Today I...

• made coffee with my drip coffee-maker because I broke the beaker on my French press yesterday morning.

• folded a load of towels that have been in the dryer for 3 days.

• gave Ginny a microfiber cloth to use when she asked if she could dust and clean windows (!) and then had to send her to time-out when she was discovered using a Color Wonder marker as furniture polish.

• finally unclogged the downstairs bathroom sink:  baking soda, vinegar & boiling water.

• had Ginny's help sorting the dirty laundry and putting it in the machine.  I can't believe she's tall enough to reach inside it.

• ate last week's leftover stuffed tomatoes for lunch.  

• put away some clean laundry that's been in the basket since last week.

• made my bed.

• played a game and a half of Candy Land and a rousing round of Eye Spy with Ginny.

• emptied the dishwasher.

• tested a pile of markers that Ginny insists on leaving the caps off of and threw half of them away because they didn't work.

• read Hand, Hand, Fingers Thumb and got online to figure out which Kindermusik CD has the song that Ginny has been asking to hear for days.

• said "no" to going to the Splash Pad today -- because tomorrow we're going to the dentist and today I needed to get some things done around here. 

• thanked God for a bit of rain to water my garden so I don't have to.

• dog-eared a bunch of recipes in the July/August issue of Everyday FOOD that I want to try.

• did my Esther Bible study homework.

• confirmed our dentist appointments and rescheduled a hair cut for Trav.

• contemplated doing some sewing:  I need to do mending.  I want to make bears.  So far, contemplation is as far as I've gotten.

Another glamorous episode of Real Housewives of Small-Town America.  What did you do today?

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A Party for Clara

Two weekends ago I hosted a tea party baby shower for my sister-in-law, Mary.

The shoes were Mary's when she was a baby.  Pink roses and honeysuckle from my back yard, and daisies from the roadside.  The vintage children's storybooks are from the free bin at a used bookstore.

Red roses from my mother-in-law's yard.  Tea tin from Goodwill.

The gown on the far left was made by Clara's great-great grandmother for my mother-in-law when she was born.  The rest of these tiny things were Mary's. 

Peonies from my yard and my mother-in-law's with more roadside daisies

Menu

Mini Cherry & Almond Teacakes

Chicken Salad with Croissants

Bacon Cheese Ball with crackers

Grape Salad

Cream Scones with Strawberry Jam and Lemon Curd

Punch, Coffee and Assorted Teas

 
My only regret is that I don't live near enough to my brother and his wife to have hosted parties for their babies, too.  Happy Birthday, 3rd birthday Anna Beth!  Aunt Bek loves you.

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In 1883...

In 1883 the first electric lighting system using overhead wires was built by Thomas Edison.  The Brooklyn Bridge was completed.  Louis Waterman began experiments to invent the fountain pen.  Congress authorized the 1st steel vessels in US navy.  Long-distance telephone service between Chicago and New York was available for the first time.  The Northern Pacific Railway celebrated the completion of its east-west line with the famous Gold Spike in central Montana.  The United States and Canada adopted Standard Time zones, and a 25 year-old man from western Kentucky began a personal journal.  For the next fifty years William Golden recorded his pursuit of education, his struggles with illness, his experiences as a preacher in 6 states, his sermons and the tangible results of his service to God: conversions, baptisms, weddings and funerals. 

For the past 6 months, I have had the challenge and privilege of transcribing these 128 year-old documents for future generations.  It was difficult.  It was frustrating.  It was gratifying, and eye-opening.  I held history in my hands.

 His wife, Mildred, kept notes in the back of her Bible, which she received in 1891.

So many things have changed.  And yet the things a wife and mother sees fit to record are the same: the death of her father, her wedding day, moving to a new home, the birth of her only child.  She wrote much less than her husband, but I felt a kinship with her.  William rarely mentioned Millie in his journal, but once wrote of her as "my precious help."  I can't imagine anything sweeter.

(All historical information from Wikipedia.)

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P.O.E.M.

My name is Rebekah, and I am an English Major.

When my girls and I decided to have our little reunion, we talked about what we want to do.  Only one of us, really, was excited about talking to professors.  Actually, that isn't exactly true.  One of the advantages of attending a small, private university, is that classes are small and your professors take time to get to know you.  I loved all of my English professors.  I wanted to stop in and see them.  But I was... afraid?  Ashamed?  Embarrassed?

You see, I didn't go to graduate school.  I'm not a teacher.  I don't "write."  Except when I do.  And when I do it isn't literary.   It's pretty easy for me to identify all the ways I'm not using my degree.

Still, my blog is (I hope) well-written.  My 4 year old is {thisclose} to reading, and when we read together she chooses stories with words like: disdainful, alacrity, affronted, and indigestible as often as she chooses Dr. Seuss.  I read literary fiction, thanks to the recommendations of my English-professor brother-in-law.  And I listen to The Writer's Almanac on NPR nearly every day.  That has to count for something. 

As we were loitering in the halls of our alma mater, I saw one of my best-loved professors walking through the English department, and I am sorry to say that I sort of wanted to hide.  Then I thought, what's the point? He wouldn't remember me any way.  So, I handed my camera to Jeanna, she snapped a quick picture of me, and we moved on.

We dropped in on the departments of Social Work, Psychology, Christian Studies and Business, and all the while I was engaged in an internal struggle with self-doubt.  Finally, sick of hearing me whine, probably, Ellen told me, "Your "good enough" is good enough."  Touché .  I laughed.  Then I dragged the three of them back to the English department so I could say, "Hi" to my professor.  And, do you know, he did remember me.  And he encouraged me so, saying that what I am doing is important, and that even if I don't realize it, I am using my degree.  I knew it, of course, but to hear if from a respected academic who I always hoped would be proud to have counted me among his students, someone I really wanted to impress 10 or 12 years ago, was... heartening.

My name is Rebekah, and I'm a proud member of the Professional Organization of English Majors.

We put the human in humanities.

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Luke ch. 7

"When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table.  A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume.  As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. 

When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, 'If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.'" (Lk 7:36-39)

"Mom, what's a sinner?"

A sinner is someone who does things that are bad, things that make God sad.  All people are sinners.

"I'm a sinner." [Oh, the ache of hearing that truth from my little girl's mouth!]

Yes, and Mommy and Daddy and every other person are sinners, too.  Jesus is the only person who wasn't a sinner. 

Trav was passing by in the hall about this time and came in to join the conversation.  "I'm a sinner, too, and that's why we have to ask God to help us.  Do you know what sin is?" he asked her.

"You mean like when I get stuck in a tree?"

No, that's not a sin, we told her.  Sin is when you take something that doesn't belong to you, or tell a lie, or when you disobey.  Or, I said, without really thinking, when we're angry with one another.  Travis corrected me: anger isn't a sin.  It's an emotion.  Right.  What I meant was being unkind.  I should know its name -- I am guilty of it so often.

"Like if I take William's toys?"

Exactly.

"Jesus answered him, 'Simon, I have something to tell you.'
 'Tell me, teacher,' he said. 
 'Two people owed money to a certain creditor. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.'" (Lk 7:40-1)

"What's a creditor?"

A creditor is someone who loans money to people.


"A creditor isn't a person."


Yes, a creditor is a person who loans money.


"No, a creditor is... is... is... "


(I know what she's thinking now.) An animal that hunts other animals to eat them?  That's a PREDATOR.  With a P.  Puh-puh-predator.  This is a CREDITOR, with a C.  Cuh-cuh-creditor.  (I had to laugh.  It wasn't the first time she's been confused about this.)

"Okay."

"'Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?'
Simon replied, 'I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.'
'You have judged correctly,' Jesus said.

Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, 'Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.  You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet.  You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet.  Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.' 

Then Jesus said to her, 'Your sins are forgiven.' 
The other guests began to say among themselves, 'Who is this who even forgives sins?'
Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.'" (Lk 7:42-50)

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In which Ginny is so tired of hearing about the hypocrites

On the first Sunday in January, our pastor issued a challenge to the children of our church:  Every child who reads the entire New Testament (or has their parents read it to them) in 2011, will receive a beautiful New Testament of their very own.  Ginny took this very much to heart.  As we were walking (and skipping) to our car after church she said, "Can we read the New Testament?"  Of course!  So we began that very night.  Along with our usual story book, we now read a chapter or two together before bed.  It's presented some very interesting opportunities for conversation and vocabulary expansion.

***

When you pray, don't babble like the idolaters, since they imagine they'll be heard for their many words. (Matt 6:7) 

"What's an idolater?" 

An idolater is someone who loves someone or something else more than they love God.  We call those things, "idols."  God says we should love and obey him more than anyone else, and any one who doesn't do that is an idolater. 

"I want to love you and daddy more than God." 

I'm very glad that you love us, and the Bible says that you should honor your parents, but I want you go love God more than anything.  You'll learn to do that as you grow older.  

***

While He was reclining at the table in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came as guests to eat with Jesus and His disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners" (Matt 9:10-11)

"Tax collectors are bad guys." 

No, they're not bad guys.  They just collect money from people to help pay for things that the government needs to do.  It's their job.

"My Sunday School teacher said they are bad."

(I seriously doubt this.)  I think what she meant was that a lot of tax collectors in Jesus' time were not honest and they took more money from people than they were supposed to, but all tax collectors are not bad. 

***

The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matt 13:41-42)

"What's a furnace?"

It's like a big fireplace.

"Does it have big teeth to chomp you?"

No.  (Now every other night she asks to hear more about the furnace.)

***

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces...“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are... “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness... “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence... “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean... “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous.  And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ (Matt 23:13-30)

"You keep saying that!"

What?  Hypocrites?  I'm saying it over and over because Jesus said it over and over.  He was frustrated with them.

"What is that?  Hiccup?"

Hypocrites.  It means when you say one thing, and do something else.  Like if I say, "You shouldn't take things that don't belong to other people," but then I take things that belong to other people myself.   Or if I say, "You should be kind to people," but then I'm not kind to people myself.  
 
"I'm frustrated with those hypocrites.  Don't say that any more."
 
Fine.  

So I continued, skipping the word "hypocrite."  Like I said.  Interesting conversation, and we've only just gotten started.  I can only imagine what's to come.

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Lookin' Out My Back Door

So what if I forgot what a hopscotch grid looks like?  She doesn't know.

I have no idea what this is, but it grows on a tree with thorns.  If you know, please share!

"Chalking" her fingernails.

The sweetest peas I've ever tasted.  They're like candy.  You should have seen Ginny's face light up the first time she popped one into her mouth.  Now I can't keep her away from them.

Brought to you by the letter "S"

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Two Little Monkeys, Sitting in a Tree

More Sock and Glove goodies.  The black and gray monkey is for my cousin, who is expecting her first baby (a boy), and has a monkey-themed nursery.  The other is for a friend's little girl, who saw the "boy" monkey at our house and said she had always wanted a sock monkey.  She turned 6 this week, and her mom asked if I would be willing to make her sock-monkey dreams come true.  How could I refuse?

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"Scary Richard Potter"

We have this book:

 photo Traditional Home

Ginny loves it.  We read from it nearly every day, and not just Peter Rabbit and Jemima Puddle Duck.  Lately she has been asking for some of the less well-known stories, like The Tale of Samuel Whiskers and The Tale of the Pie and the Patty Pan (one of my absolute favorites.)  Beatrix Potter was a comic genius, really.

However, for the past week or so, Ginny has been calling the book "Scary Richard Potter."  I tell her every time that it's "BEATRIX Potter," but she never seems to remember.  The Scary Potter part I could maybe understand.  I seem to recall some reference to Scary Potter on Abby's Flying Fairy School (a Sesame Street thing) but the "Richard" part totally confused me.  Then, last night, she chose Richard Scarry's Best Times Ever for her bedtime story and when she handed it to me she said, "Read this Scary Richard book."

Ooooh!  "Scary Richard Potter."  I get it.  I think.  It makes me wonder, though... does she find it all strange that a person named Scarry Richard writes stories that are not at all scary?  (He's a comic genius, too, by the way.)  And does she ever wonder why Huckle Cat and Lowly Worm make no appearance in Beatrix Potter, The Complete Tales?  I have more questions than ever. 

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Entirely Surrounded by Water

"It rained and it rained and it rained.  Piglet told himself that never in all his life, and he was goodness knows how old-- three, was it, or four?-- never had he seen so much rain.  Days and days and days...


... it was rather exciting.  The little dry ditches in which Piglet had nosed about so often had become streams, the little streams across which he had splashed were rivers, and the river, between whose steep banks they had splashed so happily, had sprawled out of it's own bed and was taking up so much room everywhere, that Piglet was beginning to wonder whether it would be coming into his bed soon. 


'It's a little Anxious,' he said to himself, 'to be a Very Small Animal Entirely Surrounded by Water...

Christopher Robin lived at the very top of the Forest.  It rained, and it rained, and it rained, but the water couldn't come up to his house.   It was rather jolly to look down into the valleys and see the water all around him, but it rained so hard that he stayed indoors most of the time, and thought about things."

-"In Which Piglet is Entirely Surrounded by Water", from Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne

It's raining, and raining, and raining here this weekend, but fortunately we, like Christopher Robin, live at the very top.  I wouldn't exactly say it's "jolly" to see the water rising up into our friends' beds, but I am thankful today for the wise man who built our house on a rock so many years ago.  So that's where we'll be for a while.  Indoors, thinking about things.

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Violent Grace

"It is one thing to speak in theological terms about an obligatory sacrifice for a fallen world.  It is an entirely different thing to stand in the presence of brutal men and their instuments of torture and try to watch, realizing that Jesus endured all that for you and me.

Yet His pain was the prelude to the outpouring of God's favor.  By enduring the violence in that circle of hate, Jesus accomplished a costly exchange.  With each blow, He carried away our grief and our brokenness and brought back for us-- for that howling mob and for every person since-- the treasures of grace.

'By his wounds we are healed,' wrote Isaiah.  Healing through wounding; wholeness through brokenness.  That is the way of the cross-- the way of Jesus.  It is the method of an upside-down kingdom, whose king dies for his subjects."

          Surely he took up our infirmities

          and carried our sorrows,

          yet we considered him stricken by God,

          smitten by him, and afflicted.

          He was crushed for our iniquities; 

          the punishment that brought us peace was upon him

          and by his wounds we are healed.

          Isaiah 53: 4-5

A Violent Grace, Michael Card

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One Yard Wonders

For Christmas, my sweet sister-in-law (and kindred spirit), Mary, gave me Handmade Home, by Amanda Blake Soule.  A great book.  Unfortunately, a friend gave me the same book for my birthday a few months ago, so Mary offered to return it for me and exchange it for something else.  At long last, I chose this:

 

It arrived last week, while we were in the depths of sofa reupholstery, but I pored over it when we weren't pulling out staples, anticipating the joys to come.  I had also managed to break all but my heavy-dutiest sewing machine needles, so I had to wait until some light-duty ones could be had to begin anything in the book anyway.  *Sigh!*  In the meantime (couch being finished), I began cutting for the projects I wanted to tackle first: the obi-inspired heat/cold wrap, the sewing trio (machine cover, needle book, pin cushion), and the Smock Of All Ages.  When my needles arrived yesterday in the mail, I was ready to start begin right away.

Here are my finished results, completed with relative ease and speed by a novice sewer:

Obi-inspired Heat/Cold Wrap

The fabric is an African print on cotton that I've had for many years.  I filled the hot/cold pack with buckwheat hulls from a buckwheat pillow I have that doesn't get much use.  (It didn't take much, so after I took out what I needed for this project, I closed the pillow back up and it was good as new.)  I tried the wrap out last night.  The long, wide straps are very comfortable and the buckwheat warmed up wonderfully.  I think it would be lovely to wrap this around yourself before getting into a cold car in the morning, for anyone not fortunate enough to have heated seats.

Post updated 1/28/2010: I DO NOT recommend buckwheat hulls as a filler for this project!!!  As stated above, I did try the heat pack out the day I made it, heating it for about 1 minute in the microwave, and had no problem.  However, last night I put the pack in for about 1 1/2 minutes and I began to smell something strange.  I looked in and the center of the pack was turning brown and it was smoking.  I quickly removed it and tossed it out onto our back porch.  The house smelled of smoke for the rest of the night, and when I went out this morning to throw the thing away, an entire section of the fabric had been burned away!  It must have smoldered there for some time after I threw it out.  So, I repeat DO NOT USE BUCKWHEAT HULLS AS A FILLER FOR ANYTHING YOU INTEND TO PUT IN THE MICROWAVE!  The book recommends white rice, and I have seen that suggested other places as well for similar projects.  I may try to make a replacement heat pack and fill it with that.  

Sewing Trio (sewing machine cover, needle book & pincushion)

This is made up in a navy/red tie-dye, another African fabric I've had for years.  I love the big pocket on the sewing machine cover for my user's manual (which I refer to regularly) and my power cord and pedal fit in there, too.

Instead of using a button and and loop closure, as suggested in the book, I used a small piece of wide grosgrain ribbon with a snap attached.  I have a good supply of snaps, and as I had used the ribbon for the pincushion I thought it would tie them together nicely.

 

I don't love the pincushion.  Either I didn't stuff it quite enough, or I am overly enthusiastic when poking pins into it, but I stuck myself in the arm a number of times.  Still, it is cute.

I have to get some bias tape before I can do up the smock, but of course I'll post pictures when that's done.

(Linked up with "Made It Mondays" at The Persimmon Perch.)

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You have to read this!

This past weekend Trav and I went on a little get-away to celebrate our 7th anniversary. (Yay!) We browsed around at a bookstore near our hotel and I picked up The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society because I'd seen several other bloggers mention that they'd enjoyed it, and I was curious. Oh, they were SO right!!

I had no idea what to expect, but it turned out to be so many things that I love:

letters
writers writing about writing
readers writing about reading
England in the 40s
interesting, eccentric characters

In short, it is delightful, lovely and charming. Let me know how you like it, won't you?

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Blog, and it shall be given unto you.

While the title of this post isn't necessarily true, as it happened, among the delights of this Christmas (many of which were not material) were two things I have blogged about over the past year. You may recall, many months ago, my swooning over the My Mommy's Pockets aprons from Progeny. Thanks to my own mommy, I am now a proud apron wearer- in fact, I'm wearing my Norma Rae half-apron right now! It couldn't be cuter, and I have my cell phone, lip balm, and a pen (the three things, along with tissues, that I am constantly searching for) close at hand at last. I feel a little like Donna Reed, without the pearls. What's not to love about that? It'll be fantastic for crafting, too. This may be my new go-to gift for moms-to-be. Aprons for everyone!

Perhaps you also remember the little bunny I made for Ginny's friend, Abby, out of a spare pair of gloves? I received both Miyako Kanamori books: Sock and Glove and Happy Gloves, and look forward to posting many adorable softies for you in the coming months. In fact, after seeing that between the two books there are instructions for making Bears, little boys, Rabbits, Donkeys, Piglets, (Do you know where I'm going with this yet?) and tigers I am determined to make a Hundred Acre Wood set for Ginny. Maybe by next Christmas. I may even see if I can tweak some of the designs in the books to create a Kanga and Roo and an Owl. There's even a little teapot and cup! Talk about swooning... if you have an unused pair of gloves (or socks) lying around and would fancy a new friend, send them to me! Better yet, bring them over and we'll make furry friends together. I'm itching to try every project.

This last thing is not something I have blogged about, but in all seriousness, I have wanted one of these since I was 14. Not something every 14-year-old longs for, but I think perhaps I was not a typical 14-year-old. My sweet husband surprised me with this:

A thing of beauty is a joy forever. And a batch of chocolate chip cookies now and again ain't bad either. Drop in any time and "Kit" and I will whip up some up for you in no time flat.

Merry Christmas, friends! May your New Year's wish come true.

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